


Words Upon Your Skin

by SheWhoRidesOnRainbows



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Some salt, Soulmates, and someone gets drugged, gonna tag as i go, im not a big fan of adrien turning stalker so hes good in this, no damian until chapter 3 fyi, some of them crack but its funny, theres gonna be quite a few of my personal headcanons/ideas, theres some human trafficking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-01-30 00:24:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21419158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWhoRidesOnRainbows/pseuds/SheWhoRidesOnRainbows
Summary: Worldbuilding Summary: You have a 50/50 shot of being born with a soulmate. Most find out in early childhood since kids always end up drawing on themselves. The only hiccup is that the universe decided being able to just write your names to each other was too easy so the only thing that won't transfer through the bond is your names.Now Mari always thought she was in the half without soulmates because she's never had even a scribble appear. We all know better than that though so join me for a ride exploring the twists and turns of Marinette dealing with a new soulmate on top of trying to figure out who's using the Butterfly Miraculous to terrorize Paris.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 71
Kudos: 667





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, this is my first Maribat fic and I'm excited to be writing again. Hope y'all enjoy.

"Bye bye, pretty butterfly." Ladybug watched the small, white butterfly slowly flap away, back to its master. "Now, Kaalki." A horse-like creature floated up to her ear at the short command. 

"I'm going to need so many sugar cubes after this, Ladybug," the Kwamii said before taking off, tailing the butterfly. Chat Noir stepped silently next Ladybug. The eyes of Paris's heroes followed the specks in the bright summer sky until two quiet beeps broke the silence. 

Chat placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, LB, your plan is brilliant," he said with a gentle squeeze. "And at least it was just Mr. Pigeon today."

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me," her gaze finally broke away and she looked at her partner, a grateful expression adorned her face. "Now let's go recharge so we're ready when Kaalki comes back."

"Sure thing, bugaboo." Chat saluted then leapt onto the closest rooftop.

She tossed the Lucky Charm into the air and cast her Miraculous Cure before bounding off towards the nearest hiding spot. Magic swarmed Paris. Any damage from the angry flocks of birds that overran the streets during the akuma attack disappeared. Ladybug didn't pay attention to any of it as she ducked into an alley. In a pink flash Marinette was crouching on the trash littered ground, she flinched but couldn't worry about how dirty her clothes were getting because making sure Tikki had enough energy to transform again was so much more important right then. Who knew how quickly it would take Kaalki and the akuma to get to Hawkmoth's lair. Ladybug and Chat Noir had to be ready when the horse kwamii found their destination.

Marinette opened her purse, pulled out a cookie, and handed it to the red Kwamii floating in front of her. The girl started talking to fill the silence as the tiny God-of-Creation scarfed down the treat.

"Maybe after this, Adrien and I can finally expose Lila, you know, since we won't have to worry about her getting akumatized?"

Tikki nodded and made a positive sound around the mouthful of cookie. Sitting down and leaning against the wall made Marinette's clothes even grosser but the thought of not having to deal with Lila anymore eased her worries.

"As annoying as he was about preaching 'the high road' in the beginning, without Adrien, school would've been horrible. And who'd have thought that I'd be better friends with Chloe than Alya!" 

Marinette smiled at Tikki as she tried to fit as much of the cookie in her mouth as possible and shook her head free of non-Ladybug thoughts. The little red bug popped the last chocolate chip in her mouth then grinned.

"Do you think you'll need another, Tikki?" Marinette asked, already reaching into her purse for a second.

"No no, Marinette," Tikki squeaked, cookie crumbs coming out with the words. "I didn't use that much energy today." She swallowed the last bite quickly and smiled at her holder. "Ready when you are!"

"Let's just hope Chat is. Tikki, spots on!" Another flash of pink magic and Ladybug was swinging towards the top of the Eiffel Tower, the place Kaalki was going to meet back up with her and Chat.

*******

In Kaalki's personal opinion, famous people were the best to work with. What's the point of granting someone teleportation powers if her and her holder weren't going to be in the spotlight? And in Paris, no one was more famous than Ladybug. So when Tikki's Chosen asked for Kaalki's help in finally defeating Hawkmoth, of course she wouldn't turn down the girl's plan.

Kaalki closed the distance between herself and the dumb butterfly she was following. She watched it fly into the window of some big house then saw how the window closed behind the white bug. Alright, got the location. Now just to make sure Hawky and Mayura are inside, get back to the Eiffel tower, then teleport Ladybug and Chat into that room and I'll be one of the Kwamii's they write into the history books.

She got as close to the window as she could without the inhabitants noticing her. She peeked over the widow's edge and saw the costumed Hawkmoth and a woman with Duusu floating nearby. With a nod, Kaalki channeled her powers to create a small portal just big enough for her and popped out the other side, almost flying right into the waiting teens.

"Did you find them?" Plagg's Chosen asked. Ladybug was right behind him, pulling a sugar cube out of a bag.

"Of course I did, was there any doubt?" Kaalki grabbed the cube from the girl and daintily ate the sweet substance to recharge.

"Never," Ladybug smiled then narrowed her eyes in seriousness. "Are you ready to end this Chat?"

"After you, M'Lady."

"What about you, Kaalki?"

Kaalki nodded then widened her portal to fit the two heroes. She went through first to make sure it was positioned perfectly. In one fluid motion, Paris's Wonder Duo dropped from the glowing circle, smashed through the window, and posed, battle ready. Kaalki waited, eagerly listening for the sounds of Ladybug and Chat fighting Hawkmoth and Mayura. 

She was met with silence instead.

*******

Marinette's heart was racing. Her eyes couldn't focus on just a single thing, constantly flitting around the room, taking in every detail around her once, the glittering of shattered glass under her feet.

Twice, the forms of Ga- no, of Hawkmoth and Mayura, in crumpled heaps just outside of the window's light.

Three times, the torn and ruined white butterfly wings spread on the floor, like twisted flower petals. 

It took a broken, choking sound from Chat to bring her back from the verge of what could only have been a panic attack. She rushed forward to kneel by the two adults.

Ok, first, make sure they're still alive. A gentle press of fingers against their throats confirmed their unconscious states. 

Next, look for the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous. A quick once over and Ladybug knew that these two no longer had the magic jewelry on them. She was about to stand up to look in the dark corners when Chat made that choking sound again. Ladybug looked back at her partner, his head was down and she couldn't see his face.

"Chat Noir, what's wrong? Are you ok?"

His head shot up at the sound of her voice. "Ladybug, I- Are they..." His shoulders shook and he seemed to fold into himself, almost as if to get as small as possible without moving.

"Chat Noir, please." Ladybug straightened and slowly approached the other teen. Sobs were rattling his whole form now. "What's wrong?"

"My father was Hawkmoth, Ladybug, and Natalie had to have been Mayura," he gasped out. Those words must have broken a dam in him because he started walking back and forth across the circle of light, glass crunching under his boots, never taking a step into the darkness. "It all makes sense now, if you think about it. Of course Father was a recluse, he had to be able to get to his lair to akumatize someone at a moment's notice."

Twist, turn, step, step, step, then repeat. The longer he ranted, the longer Chat's strides become. Turn, step, step, repeat.

Ladybug hurried forward and grabbed his shoulders, stopping his agitated pacing. She turned him to look her in the eyes. A sharp inhale and he was focused on her.

"Chat, calm down, you're going to be ok. Let's just talk this out."

"Okay," he croaked, close to tears again.

"Okay. Now Chat, are you saying Gabriel Agreste is your father?" A silent nod.

"And you're Adrien?" Another nod.

"Did you ever think that Gabriel could be Hawkmoth?" Head shake this time.

Under the red and black spandex, Marinette's heart broke for this boy. He always tries to see the best in people, and no wonder, with Hawkmoth as a father of course Adrien wanted to ignore the bad. Even if he never realized who Gabriel actually was.  _ I've got to find some way to keep him from spiraling too far down for me to reach him.  _

She'd just opened her mouth to ask Chat/Adrien another question when a moan of pain came from behind her. She immediately switched to a defensive stance in front of her partner. No one was getting to him any time soon.

Gabriel Agreste inched his way up into a sitting position, holding his head in a hand the whole time. "Wh-what happened?" he groaned. He looked around his lair slowly, stunned when his eyes landed on the heroes standing in the light. "Ladybug, Chat Noir, how did you two get here?" Beside him, Natalie started to rise. 

Ladybug glared at the adults before her, "Miraculous of Teleportation, you didn't think we'd let you continue on your warpath, did you?" 

As soon as, Natalie was sitting up too, Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo string around them, ignoring the small sound of protest from her partner. Once the bonds were secure, the angered teen crouched to Gabriel's eye level. 

"Now tell me, Hawkmoth, where are the Miraculous?"

Gabriel's eyes widened and he looked down at where the butterfly brooch had been for the last two years. "I-I don't know, Ladybug. I just had it." He started desperately searching the area around him, as if the Miraculous was hiding among the dead butterflies littering the floor.

"I had just used it to akumatize that girl who was not invited to a classmate's party again," he started to ramble, pulling on the cords around his torso. "I-"

Chat Noir interrupted the panicking man, "What do you mean? We just fought Mr. Pigeon again, not some girl."

"No, I distinctly remember the feelings of a girl being ostracized by her peers," Gabriel sneered. He glared up at Chat before Ladybug stepped between the two, blocking the man's line of sight to her partner. 

Ladybug was glaring back when she saw Gabriel's eyes glance behind her and his face paled. "Chat what's he looking at?" _ I can't look behind me, this could be a trick _ .

"Nothing, M'Lady, there's just the window." 

"What's the date?" Gabriel's voice came out as a whisper. A gentle breeze blew through the trees, leaves rustling was the only sound for one heart stopping second.

"June 2, why?" His face whitened even more. It looked like the ghost of Gabriel Agreste was kneeling in front of her. He shakily made eye contact with Ladybug again.

"The last thing I remember was akumatizing a teenage girl on January 2. The trees outside were covered in snow."

Ladybug's eyes went wide and she whipped her head towards the woman tied up with Gabriel. "Natalie, what about you, what do you remember?"

"The," the woman paused, obviously still not completely awake, "the last I remember was dropping Adrien off at a photoshoot, January 2 as well."

"That means," Ladybug stumbled back, "something stole your memories." 

Chat shifted behind her then added, "And your Miraculous." 

Chat Noir and Ladybug moved to a dark corner to decide what to do about the poor excuse of a father sitting just outside the circle of light. Her arms were crossed and her posture tense while he looked more defeated than the magic-less duo still tied together.

"I think we should call the police and have both hauled off!" huffed Ladybug, still very much pissed that Adrien's own father was the villian they'd been fighting against for so long. "But," she deflated, "he's your father, what do you want to do?"

Chat Noir opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, then opened it again to simply state, "I've already lost my mother, I don't think I can lose him too."

Ladybug's gaze softened as he went on.

"Look, I know he fucked up. He fucked up really bad. But we don't even know why he wanted our Miraculous." Ladybug tried to interject but a raised, leather hand stopped her. "I'm not excusing anything he's done, I just want to know why."

With a nod Ladybug led the way back to Gabriel and Nathalie. She silently stood, glaring down at the man before speaking, "Why did you want our Miraculous?" Gabriel seemed to weigh his options then answered.

"To bring my wife back. To make my family whole again."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I know, more already? Well let's just say I'm super inspired by Maribat/Daminette stuff so here y'all go

Marinette was stressed. 

It was four weeks and three days since someone stole the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous from top fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste, and his assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur. Neither of the former-villains remember anything from the last five months and, until the Miraculous Heroes get to the bottom of it, they were keeping the identities of Hawkmoth and Mayura close to the vest. 

Another thing the heroes were hiding was the truth about Mme. Agreste. The official story was that she had been a Jane Doe in another country after an accident and Gabriel had only recently found her. After Ladybug told Gabriel what the consequences of his wish would've been he agreed to put her in the best hospital in Paris.

Marinette growled as she ran her fingers roughly through her hair, halfway undoing the braid she'd put her hair in that morning. Her last year in school was starting soon and all she could do was worry about the Thief.

Why did they take the brooches? How did they find Hawkmoth's lair? What's their plan? WHO ARE THEY? Are they biding their time, learning how to use the Miraculous? She didn’t even have Master Fu to help anymore since he had used the last of the magic keeping him alive to erase Gabriel and Natalie’s minds of anything dealing with the Miraculous.

"UGH! I'M GOING TO GO CRAZY THINKING ABOUT THIS!" The sudden shout startled Tikki and Plagg, who were both curled up napping together in the windowsill.

As soon as they were able to find time alone that disastrous day, Marinette had revealed herself to Adrien. Tears were shed, hugs happened. They'd even tried dating for a brief (very brief) time but quickly realized that neither of them were in the emotional headspace to be anything other than friends with the other. And they both really needed a friend.

Which is why Adrien was currently sprawled out on her chaise, headphones on and blasting the latest Jagged Stone album. One of her old magazines blocking his face from view.

"C'mon Lil' Bug," Plagg yawned, "I was in the middle of such a nice dream." The God of Destruction floated down to her, landing on top of her head and curling up. "I was surrounded by cheese..."

Tikki watched her Chosen as Plagg rambled on about his dumb cheese dream. She knew that Plagg and her balanced each other out, that all of her Bugs needed one of Plagg's Kittens so they wouldn't burn themselves out. Plagg was doing his best to lighten Marinette's mood but what she really needed was the boy that was trying to deafen himself if the noise coming from those headphones were anything to go by.

While Marinette was distracted by Plagg, Tikki zipped across the room to get Adrien's attention. She hovered right between the blond's nose and the magazine in front of him, green eyes going crosseyed to look at her. Tikki motioned for him to turn the music off so they could talk.

"What's-" he started, but Tikki shushed him. He tried again in a whisper, "What's up Tikki?" He leaned forward to close the distance and set the magazine down.

"Marinette is seriously stressed out!" It almost sounded like a hiss. "The Thief is all she can think about and if you don't take that girl out and do something fun, Right. Now. I will personally make sure you'll never find you left socks ever again."

"Tikki, socks aren't left or right, they're for both feet," Adrien chuckled. He made the mistake of thinking Tikki was joking. Hint: she wasn't.

The tiny red Goddess started to vibrate, magic slowly being released from her body.

"Do you want to test me, Adrien Agreste?" Eyes wide and barely able to swallow down fear, Adrien stood up abruptly.

"Come on, Marinette," he said a tad too brightly to be completely real, "Let's go get ice-cream and maybe we'll hit up that fabric store you like!"

"What are y-" Marinette didn't finish her question before Adrien was grabbing her wrist and dragging her down the stairs. The Kwamii quickly sped after the teens, zipping into Marinette’s purse as she grabbed it from the hook by the door. Adrien and Marinette were on the street before he slowed down long enough to look back at her.

“Sorry about that Mari, but you’re stressing way too much to be healthy so you need an afternoon off.” Adrien pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly typed up Andre’s Ice-Cream. “And hey, Andre’s cart is close by, we won’t even have to walk far.”

Marinette relaxed just a teensy bit at how caring her Chaton was. Of course she’d noticed that Tikki had said  _ something _ to her partner, and by his sudden eagerness for ice-cream Marinette could guess the gist of what that ‘something’ was, but she could still feel the love from both of them.

“Alright, but slow down, Kitty,” she smiled, “I’d still like my arm attached.” That got Adrien to stop completely and they both looked down at the grip he had around her wrist.

“Oh,” he winced and let go. She rolled her shoulder as he continued, “I’m sorry, Bugaboo. Guess I got a little overzealous.”

“It’s ok.” Marinette glanced ahead and could see the ice-cream cart on the corner at the end of the street. She looked back at Adrien and grinned. “Bet I can get to Andre first.”

He turned around, grinned back at Marinette, then stepped backwards to line up with where she stood. “And what do I win when you don’t?”

She stretched her legs as she thought about a worthy prize. “Well,” he started limbering up too, “on the off chance that you beat me, I promise that we can have a full day of no Thief talk. Just us, some video games that I’ll definitely beat you at, and all the leftover pastries we can eat.” They both straightened and Adrien reached his hand out. 

“I like that idea, and if you win I’ll buy every bit of supplies you’ll need for your next three projects.”

Marinette’s grin widened as she shook his hand, “Prepare for your wallet to lighten considerably, Agreste.”

With the conditions agreed upon they hadn’t even let go of the other’s hand completely before taking off. Adrien had long legs but Marinette was quicker on her feet so she shot passed him immediately. She laughed as she drew closer to the ice cream cart, just inches ahead of the other but stumbled to a stop when she heard the voices coming from around the corner. Adrien had just enough time to give her a startled look before running straight into a group of girls that had appeared from around the building. He knocked over the leader of the pack and they both fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Apologies started to form on his lips as he jumped back and stood up, until he got a good look at the girl. There, still lying on the ground, was Lila Rossi. Her hair was shorter but it was definitely her. Adrien took a quick moment to bemoan his bad luck before shoving down the voice in his head that was telling him to let the liar stay on the ground. He put on his most forced smile and reached towards her. “I’m sorry, Lila, I didn’t see you in time.”

Lila smiled sweetly back at him and grasped the offered hand, pulling herself up. 

“It’s ok, Adrien,” she started. “I know how good Andre’s ice cream tastes and I’d be running to it too,” she paused then began to rub at her ankle, “if I hadn’t twisted my ankle while I was in Gotham.”

“Really?” came Alya’s voice. Adrien looked over at the rest of the group, all of them were the girls from his class. “What happened?”

Adrien could feel three pairs of eyes roll behind him as Marinette stepped forward to stand at his side. Eye contact with Mari confirmed that they both knew what was going to happen next.  _ Here comes some long winded tale about how Lila tripped while saving some celebrity’s hamster or something. _

“Well,” Lila began as everyone was served ice cream from Andre, of course Adrien and Marinette were shoved to the back of the line. “As you know, my mother is a diplomat so I was touring America with her during our summer vacation. During our stop in Gotham, which is such a beautiful city by the way, I was caught up in a villain attack.” Lila paused a second for her audience to gasp. 

“I know, I know. It was scary. Especially since Ladybug wasn’t there to be able to Cure everything. My mother and I were dining with Bruce Wayne and his family when the windows were shattered. Everything was a bit of a blur but the next thing I knew Scarecrow had grabbed me by my ponytail and was about to inject me with his Scare Toxin. Luckily I noticed a knife from the table had fallen close to me so I grabbed it and sacrificed my hair so I could get away.”

There was a chorus of ‘oh no’s from the other girls. Except for Mari. Mari had to hold back a snort because Adrien had leaned over and whispered, “Like Sakura during the Chunin Exams?” in her ear.

Lila was still smugly going on.

“I twisted my ankle when Scarecrow lunged at me, making me trip over a chair. Lucky for me Batman and one of his sidekicks swung in and saved the day. He told me that cutting my hair saved my life and might’ve saved everyone else’s because it distracted Scarecrow long enough for Batman to get there.” 

Lila sat back and took in all the oo’s and ah’s from the group around her. Alya grabbed Lila’s attention and asked, “Can I interview you again for the Ladyblog?”

“Of course you can,” Lila smiled. “I’ll try to fit it in my schedule, I met my soulmate while I was there and Dami likes to take up a lot of my time. I was actually in Gotham to meet him in the first place.”

The mention of soulmates had Rose almost frothing at the mouth.

“Oh my god how romantic!” she grabbed a hold of Juleka’s hand and beamed at her girlfriend. “Remember when we met and found out we were meant to be?” The taller nodded but Lila coughed gently to get everyone’s attention again.

“Yeah, it was really special, how Dami and I figured it out. It was right after the attack and Dami asked for my number, he said he wanted to be able to check up on me but it was obvious that he had fallen for me. So when he wrote my number on his hand and it appeared on mine too we knew we’d found our soulmates in each other.”

“Wait,” someone piped up from the other side, “he was at the restaurant during the attack?” 

Lila feigned surprise, “I’m sorry I keep forgetting only those close to him call him ‘Dami’.” She giggled a little. “I told you I was dining with the Wayne family, my soulmate is Damian Wayne.”

Marinette almost gagged. Of course, Lila was claiming to be soulmates with the heir to some huge fortune an ocean away. Marinette tugged on Adrien’s sleeve.

“Come on, I don’t feel like ice-cream today,” she said when he looked down at her. She smiled weakly and continued, “Besides, you won the race so what do you say to starting my winning streak early?” She knew he could see through her but she knew he’d go along with it if only to get her away from Lila.

“Sure thing, Buginette.” And, without another word, they turned around and walked back to the bakery, leaving Lila to spin her tales to those that had refused to listen to Marinette a year ago.

Marinette felt safe to vent halfway down the street. Adrien nodded along because he knew she needed to let out some steam.

“Lila is so easy to prove wrong,” she began. “Like, all they need to do is look up anything about a Scarecrow attack over the summer and bam!” Marinette clapped her hands together. “But nooo, they're just going to believe the story. I love them but sometimes they’re about as dumb as a box of hair.”

Marinette waved her hands around during her rant and something caught Adrien’s eye. His focused zeroed in on the marks on her left arm. 

“Mari, hold on a sec,” he said, grabbing her wrist for the second time that day.

“What is it?” 

“Was this here earlier?” They both examined the words written on her arm. Her eyes went wide.

“No,” she squeaked out and looked back up at her partner. “Adrien does this…”

He grinned at her. “Marinette, you’re soulmate wrote to you.”

***

They must’ve broken records with how quickly they ran back to Marinette’s house, desperate to get to her computer. After a quick Google, it looked like “11pm Pier 5 Bring Titus” didn’t mean jack shit without a specific city to go with it. Adrien pushed himself away from the desk with a frustrated sigh.

“Looks like you’ll just have to write them back and ask what they meant,” Adrien stated. He turned and looked at Mari sitting on the chaise, analyzing her arm as the writing faded. She hadn’t said a word since the markings first appeared. “What’s wrong Bugaboo?”

She finally tore her gaze away from her (now clear) skin. Her voice was barely a whisper, “This is the first time my soulmate has ever written me.”

Adrien was startled by this. 

“You’ve never had even a dot appear?”

“Never,” she shook her head.

“What kid never draws on themselves? Hell, even I doodled on my arm at one point and you know how Gabe is.”

The thought made Marinette wince. “What kind of parents do they have that they were never able to even try to contact me?” 

They sat in silence until Mari jumped up and grabbed the nearest pen with a determined expression. “Well, whatever life they had before this is over, they’re going to have so much support and encouragement from me their arms will look like those inspirational posters.”

Adrien could only smile as his lady got to work scribbling on her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the whole "Lila claiming to be dating Damian" has been done a lot...but I had to. I'm all for Lila-salt and it'll be so great when everything comes to light.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Damian, yay!

20 Minutes Earlier - Gotham

Damian wasn’t  _ technically _ disobeying his father.  _ Batman _ had told  _ Robin _ that they couldn’t follow the suspects during the day because their suits were too noticeable in the daylight, nobody said anything about Damian. So, dressed in the most generic get-lost-in-a-crowd he owned, Damian tailed the two men.

The GCPD had asked for Batman's help to bust up a human trafficking ring that had brought in hundreds of down-on-their-luck girls from other countries. According to the files Gordon gave the team, the men ten paces ahead of Damian were part of the group behind everything. All Damian had to do was follow them long enough to find out any useful information but so far the only thing these two had done was eat at a shitty diner then walk four blocks down the street.

_ Looks like this is going to talk a while _ . The thought had barely crossed his mind when Damian saw the men duck into an alley.  _ Shit.  _ He picked up his pace, he couldn’t lose them now. He slowed just as he reached the corner and stopped to carefully peek around, As soon as he spotted the suspects standing halfway down the alley, having a conversation with a new person, he knew he’d most likely hit the info jackpot. A quick glance around and Damian found the perfect hiding spot. Crouched as low as he could get, Damian dashed to the side of an overflowing dumpster, One of the men turned just as Damian was out of sight. If he was a spiritual person he would’ve thanked whatever God of Luck that was smiling down on him in that moment. He breathed silently and waited for the conversation to continue.

“So, like I was saying,” one of the men Damian was originally tailing spoke, “the boss wants everyone there by 11 tonight.”

“Damn, I really hate the docks,” another commented, “the salt in the air makes everything feel sticky.”

Damian heard a smack echo against the brick walls.

“Suck it up and stop being a lil’ bitch,” and there was the third. “We’re gonna make bank off of this shipment, I heard there’s a couple French ones this time around.” the first let out a low whistle.

“Where’s the cargo being unloaded this time?” the second asked.

“Jeff lined some pockets to keep the dogs from sniffing around Pier 5.”

“Good going Jeff!”

_ Yeah, good going Jeff _ , Damian thought. _ Too bad I just have to bring Titus.  _ It was time to get out of there, Damian had all the information they needed for a Batfam raid. He had just started backing up when a fourth voice sounded from behind.   


“Looky here boys!” A large hand lifted Damian off the ground by his hood. With lightning fast calculations, Damian determined it safer to act as non threatening as possible. “Y’all had yourselves an eavesdropper!”

Time to lay on the act.

“L-look I barely heard anything,” he stuttered. “I was just passing through and didn’t want you guys to see me.” 

One of the original two stepped forwards, “C’mon, man,”  _ the one that doesn’t like ocean air,  _ Damian’s mind supplied, _ softer than the others, _ “let the kid go. Some Gotham street kid ain’t gonna hurt us none.” The behemoth holding him grunted and started to lower Damian to the ground but as soon as his shoes touched down the voice behind him sounded again.

“Don’t ya think he looks kinda familiar?” All four men examined Damian’s face a little closer. One of them took out a phone, typed something quickly, then turned it around for everyone to see. And sure enough, there was Damian’s own face staring back at him from the screen.  _ Shit. I’m never going to hear the end of this from those idiots at home. _

The one with the phone chuckled, “We just bagged ourselves a Wayne!”

Damian had to think of a plan to get away without letting these criminals know that he was any kind of actual threat, so kicking their asses and running wouldn’t work, especially since they knew who he was. His brain was going rapid fire through possibilities as the men around him discussed what they wanted to do, getting increasingly agitated.

“All I’m saying is that Brucie will pay a pretty penny to get one of his brats back.”

“And I’m telling you that we don’t want to get that kind of attention.”

“We can’t just let him go though, who knows what he heard!”

“Guys, guys,” the one still holding Damian spoke in a smooth, calm voice, “it’s simple.” Damian felt the man shift a little. He’d barely gotten a look at the syringe in the man’s hand before there was a sharp pinch in his neck. It felt like ice was coursing its way through his veins. The shock of it kicked his instincts into high gear and Damian twisted out of the grip on his hoodie. Whatever was in the syringe was fast acting though because his knees had collapsed beneath him as soon as his weight wasn’t supported by the man.

Damian finally got a good look at the guy that was holding him when the man knelt down and grinned into the teen’s face and started in on the stereotypical villain monologue.

“See, Lil’ Wayne,” he held up the now empty tube in his hand, “this stuff here is what we use on the girls to knock ‘em out. Super quick and causes memory loss.” 

Damian could already feel himself losing consciousness.  _ Fuck.  _ He had to force focus back on the new bane of his existence.

“Side effects include headaches and heat flashes. And you won’t remember the last 30 minutes.” He stood and took a step backwards. “Nice meeting you. Wish we could’ve chatted longer.”

The men laughed and started walking away, Damian glaring at their backs until his vision started to darken.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he lost the ability to stay sitting up.  _ This was going to be for nothing. I have to find a way to remember.  _ Then an idea struck. He used the last of his strength to get the pen out of his hoodie’s pocket and shove a sleeve away from his wrist, exposing just enough skin for a short message. He was only able to jot down the basics; When, where, and that they needed a canine sense of smell. 

With the last ‘S’ written Damian succumbed to the drug.

***

It was the ringing from his phone that finally brought Damian back into the waking world. He groaned at sat up, rubbing his aching temples.  _ What the hell happened? _

The phone in his pocket went off again, the sound making his headache even worse. He answered without even looking at the caller ID.  
“Yes?”

“Where the hell are you and why haven’t you answered us before now?” his father’s voice came from the speaker. He examined his surroundings.  _ Dirty dumpster in the middle of some alley. _

“I’m not completely sure,” he admitted, “it appears I was drugged.”

“You were-” his father started. Damian could tell his father was trying to calm himself down so he waited patiently. “Just turn on your locator and one of your brothers will pick you up.”

“I hope it’s Grayson,” Damian said as he pushed the special button on his phone “I don’t want to hear Todd’s comments until this migraine is gone.” He stood and started walking towards the street.

“Did you at least find anything useful?” his father sighed. With the phone still pressed against his ear Damian checked himself over for any kind of notepad or scrap of paper. He was about to tell Bruce that it had been for nothing when he noticed the edge of ink on his wrist. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder then tugged his jacket sleeve to expose the sloppily written message.

“Yes, father,” Damian said with a smirk. “We’ll be needed at Pier 5, 11 o’clock tonight. We should bring Titus to help find the girls.”

“I’m not happy with you,” Bruce started, “but this might have saved them. I’ll see you back at the cave.” The call ended with a click.

Damian pocketed his phone and waited.

He glanced back down at his wrist and caught a glimpse of another message further down his arm. A quick tug revealed more writing but this was different. Instead of the ink on the surface of his skin, this seemed to be coming from within...and in French.

“ ‘I’m happy to finally talk to you’,” he translated out loud, “ “I hope we can talk more after this. I’m not going to ask why you had not written before now but just know that I’ll be here for you if you ever need someone to talk to.’ “

_ Holy shit, I have a soulmate. _

To say Damian was stunned would’ve been an understatement. He silently cursed his habit of wearing long sleeves. He could have known about his soulmate’s existence ages ago but anything they might have wrote him before went ignored because of the stupid barrier of fabric.

_ Wait, why am I upset? I never needed someone.  _

The roar of a motorcycle approaching snapped Damian out of his downward spiral. And just his luck, Jason Todd was the driver. He yanked his sleeve all the way down and stepped out to meet his most annoying brother.

Todd pulled to a stop right in front of Damian and tossed him a helmet. “Heard you got into some trouble, Demon Spawn,” he laughed as Damian caught the sleek protective gear. “C’mon, B is waiting.”

Damian grumbled as he slid the helmet over his head, there was too much to do tonight for him to think about his surprise soulmate. Of course the afternoon that he was drugged then discovered that he had a soulmate was the afternoon that Todd got to him first. Although, Todd was the only one of them without a soulmate, so maybe Damian could ask him what he would do if he suddenly found out he had one.

As he climbed on the back of the bike, Damian formulated a plan. Todd revved the engine then abruptly took off towards home. 

Damian would never admit to having to “work up the courage” in any way, he just mentally prepared himself to ask Todd this question: “What would you do if you suddenly found out you had a soulmate?” The comms in the helmets made his voice crystal clear so there was no way of taking it back and accusing Todd of mishearing him. This was it.

Years of experience on the backs of bikes kept Todd from swerving in surprise, but the wheel did stutter for a second.

“Are you asking for curiosity’s sake or is there a reason behind this?”

“You are not to tell the others,” Damian hissed. “Not until I finish planning what to do.” Todd nodded his agreement to Damian’s terms. 

“At some point before I fell unconscious, I was able to get some useful information on the human trafficking operation. The suspects must have told me that the drug they’d given me causes memory loss because I wrote the info on my wrist.” Damian paused as they turned a corner. “When I woke up I had more writing on my arm. Not in my handwriting and nothing like I would ever write myself.”

“How’ve you gone this long without knowing you had a soulmate?” Damian sneered at the question.

“You were with the League,” Todd’s shoulders tensed, “you know as well as I do how they view soulmates.”

“Yeah,” Todd grunted, “useless except as pawns to use against them.” Damian nodded.

“By the time most people get to the League, they’ve already proven not to have a soulmate. I’m the only person to have been born into the League that didn’t reach the part of my training where I would’ve hunted down my soulmate.”

They were both silent for a second, then Todd asked, “What would you have done when you found them?”

Damian was silent a moment longer.

“I would’ve killed them.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: a lot of people were confused by the ASL thing (both here and on tumblr) so I added a mini explanation.

As they approached the manor Damian swore Todd to secrecy again. He didn’t want the rest of his family’s opinions on the matter until he’d figured out how he even felt about having a person out in the world that was bonded to him. Todd was the only other person to have spent any extended time with the League so he was the only one that understood the mindset Damian was raised with. And he didn’t feel like reliving that aspect of his childhood at the moment.

The cave should’ve been cool but Damian was burning up. He’d thought the sweat building on the back of his neck was from the afternoon sun beating down on his dark clothing but, as the bike pulled to a stop inside the air conditioned area of the Batcave, Damian knew he was most likely experiencing a side effect of what he was drugged with. 

Damian jumped off the bike and quickly checked his arm to make sure his soulmate’s message had faded before practically ripping his hoodie off. Left in just a T-shirt, Damian tossed the jacket on the ground at his feet.

“What’s wrong, Baby Bird?” Todd was still sitting on his bike though his helmet was perched in front of him. Damian glared at the offending garment he’d just thrown to the ground before answering.

“I was drugged today, Todd. Apparently, whatever it was causes hot flashes.” He was halfway towards the computer when he heard the door between the cave and the manor open. The sound of Todd’s boots followed him.

Three sets of footsteps were making their way down the stairs. As the got closer Damian whipped around to remind Todd of their agreement and when he faced his brother the man was staring wide eyed at Damian’s right arm. He glanced down just in time to see more French as the rest of his family got close enough to see it as well.

It was Grayson that spoke first.

“Why did you write French on your arm?”

“Uhh,” Damian’s mind was drawing a blank.  _ The migraine is really affecting my cognitive skills. _

It was Todd that came to the rescue, “He was practicing languages other than English and Arabic, duh.”

_ Goddammit Todd. _

“Jason,” Drake piped up from behind Grayson, “the rest of us understand French. And why would Damian need to practice writing,” he twisted his head to get a better look at Damian’s arm. “Why would he need to write ‘Sorry for writing so much in one go. My friends say I ramble too much. I’ll wait for you-’” Damian cut off the translating by hiding his arm behind his back. He glared at everyone in front of him.

Everyone waited for someone else to break the silence.

“Alright,” Todd clapped his hands together, “I’m gonna bite the bullet and say it. Kid, you’re in a room with the best detectives in the world, everyone has already figured it out.” Grayson winced.

“He’s right but he shouldn’t have said it,” Bruce finally spoke. The man looked at his son carefully before continuing, “When were you going to tell us that you have a soulmate?”

“ _ Were _ you going to tell us?” Grayson asked when Damian didn’t answer.

“I-” the youngest started, “I don’t know.”

In a rare act of brotherly love, Todd moved in front of Damian to stop anymore questions. 

“Look guys, Baby Bird has only been with us for about seven years. He was raised by the League ‘til he was ten,” Todd took a breath before continuing. “After I was brought back, I spent time with the League, barely anything compared to Damian, but it was just enough to find out what they thought of soulmates.” Everyone started to look guilty when the League was brought up. They all knew how messed up that organization was. And how it messed up a good kid.

“Soulmate’s were a weakness. Nobody could join the League if they had one,” Damian’s voice was weak from behind To-  _ No, Jason, I can at least call him Jason in my mind after this. “ _ So I never wrote on myself as a child.”

“And you’ve almost always worn long sleeves so you never saw their messages,” Drake supplied and Damian nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else Alfred appeared beside the group.

“I believe Master Damian hasn’t read the newest message yet and, until he deems otherwise, it’s something between the two of them.”

And, since Alfred’s word was law, everyone scattered in opposite directions, leaving Damian by himself. After making sure no one was looking his way, he pulled his arm in front of himself and read.

_ ‘ _ **Sorry for writing so much in one go. My friends say I ramble too much. I’ll wait for you to write back before sending another message. I hope you have a nice night...or day. I don’t know what time zone you’re in.’**

The words took up all of his forearm and part of his hand. Damian could already tell that whoever they are, his soulmate would talk a lot. And normally that would annoy him but for some reason, reading the long winded messages sparked a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with his hot flash. That warmth was urging him to write something back...but what?

After so long of radio silence his soulmate was probably even more surprised by this turn of events than he was. What do you say to someone that everyone else in the world would’ve grown up talking to? ‘Hey, sorry it took so long, my mother and grandfather hated the idea of soulmates and I just never thought about the possibility that you existed after I went to live with my father. How are you?’  _ No, that was ridiculous. Do I even want to bring them into my life at all? It’s not like being Robin is any safer than being the heir to the League of Assassins.  _

Damian was about to go into another downward spiral when his father coughed behind him.

“Damian, I’m sorry you had to go through what you did as a child. And I’m sorry you faced an inquisition here when you’re still figuring this out yourself.” His father awkwardly patted his shoulder then smiled gently. “If you have any questions, I’m here for you.”

“Father, I-” It went against the instincts forced into him as a child, but the last couple years of being surrounded by an annoying but loving family had softened those instincts. So Damian continued, “I don’t know what to say to someone I should’ve known since I could hold a pen.”

“Just introduce yourself. Ask them about their interests. If they’re  _ your _ soulmate they’re probably smart enough to guess that something in your childhood prevented you from making contact. And I don’t think the universe would pair you with someone that wouldn’t understand that.”

Damian snorted, “I don’t know Father, Lady Luck hasn’t been smiling down at me lately.”

“Well, whatever you do, just know we’re here for you. I can’t say your brothers won’t tease you after everything has settled but just remember that it’s not meant to actually hurt  you. If they go too far, tell them and they’ll back off.”

“Thanks, Father,” Damian smiled weakly, “I’ll try to come up with something to say.”

A single nod from his father before he walked towards Drake at the computer.

“What have you found so far?” The eldest Wayne asked. 

Drake sat back in his chair and grabbed for his mug sitting on the console. He took a sip then started reading from his files.

“Based on the info that Damian was able to gather, these guys are bringing in more girls through this dock,” Drake circled Pier 5 on a map of Gotham’s bay area, “tonight. Whatever pre-drugged Damian found out told him to bring Titus so there’ll probably be security measures to keep out thermal imaging. And lastly, the time Damian wrote down was 11 pm,” he looked at Bruce, “if it were me I’d want to be there sooner.”

Bruce nodded, “So, we’ll shoot for the whole team to be there at ten, but I want someone down there now to stake out the area.” He stepped back to look at all of his sons gathered around. “I’m sending Nightwing for now, the rest of you be ready. We leave in three hours.”

Everyone agreed. Grayson bounded off towards the suits to gear up and head out while Jason went to his guns to get them ready. Bruce glared at the weapons before sighing.

“Jason-”

“Don’t worry, Bats,” Jason interrupted with his back still turned towards them, “I’m loading up rubber bullets. They’ll leave a hell of a bruise but they won’t kill.”

Bruce sighed again, shook his head, then walked back upstairs to the manor, muttering about ‘too many kids’ along the way.

With a quick glance to make sure nobody was looking (Grayson suiting up, Jason cleaning his guns, and Drake pouting at his now empty mug) Damian grabbed a pen and walked to a chair sitting in the darkest part of the cave. There was barely enough light to see with as he put the tip of the pen to his skin.

_ ‘ _ **Hello, thank you for not asking why this is just starting now. My father suggested I ask what your interests are…** ’ Damian’s cheeks flamed up.  _ Why did I say that my father told me to ask? I’m embarrassing myself in my first intentional message.  _ He was about to wipe it off and hope that his soulmate had not seen the message yet when ink started welling up from beneath his skin.

_ ‘ _ **I like fashion and video games. What about you?’**

He was surprised again. They messaged back very quickly and, since the bond could tell that he’d already read the message, the ink faded just as quickly. 

He tried to wipe away his writing but it only smudged. Damian jerked his head up in search of a towel or wet cloth to aid him only to see Alfred already holding one towards him. Damian grabbed it with a ‘thank you’.

“Don’t worry, Master Damian, I won’t tell your brothers,” Alfred said as he turned and walked away. Damian sent a silent ‘thank you’ at the butler’s retreating back.

After carefully cleaning the spot, Damian had to think of a safe interest of his to talk about. He was drawing a blank until Titus bounded down the stairs into the Batcave. 

Damian smiled as he wrote.

**‘I like animals.’**

He didn’t have to wait long before his arm was full of a block of French.

**‘Really? I’ve always wanted a pet of my own but my parents run a bakery so I was never able to get one. After I move I might get a dog or a cat. I used to want a hamster a couple years ago but I’ve realized it wouldn’t work out very well. I might lose them. Do you have any pets?’**

He stared, wide eyed, at the paragraph. His ink on his arm hadn’t dried yet so wiping it away was significantly easier this time.

**‘Yes, I have a Great Dane named Titus.’** From there the two soulmates went back and forth for a couple minutes, answering back as soon as the other’s message was read.

_ ‘ _ **My friend looked it up and Great Danes are HUGE dogs. He even teased me that yours would be bigger than I am… my friend also told me to ask you something called ASL, do you know what that means?’**

**‘Titus is bigger than some grown men so I wouldn’t doubt that other Great Danes are bigger than a teenager.** _ ’ _ Damian’s face screwed up into a displeased expression at the end of his soulmate’s message unsure on how he felt about it. Before he could continue, another message from his soulmate came through.

** _‘Nevermind, he told me. He’s grounded from food from the bakery for the rest of the night for making me ask for your "age, sex, location". And, to answer my own question, I’m 16, a girl, and I live in Paris.’ _ **

_ ‘ _ **I’m a year older, male, and I live in America** _ ’  _ Damian didn’t want to get too specific on his location.  _ Getting a surprise soulmate was bad enough, I do NOT need her showing up in Gotham with so many villains running around.  _ He just hoped his soulmate didn’t feel offended about his vagueness and, if his father was right about the universe, she would understand him.

‘ **Well** ,’ the word appeared on his arm followed closely with, ‘ **it was great talking to you. I have to go to bed now, my parents got on to me for staying up until almost 3 playing video games. Oh! I haven’t told them about you yet. The only reason my friend knows is because he’s the one that noticed the first message. Do you mind if I tell them?’** _ _

Damian’s heart stuttered.  _ She waited to tell anyone until she checked if I wanted others to know. _

‘ **I’m fine if you tell the people in your life about me. Most people are very excited to have a soulmate and I’m honestly surprised you didn’t immediately tell anyone, my family already knows so it would only be fair if yours did as well. I know my brothers are just waiting to be able to tease me.’**

_ Great, now I’m rambling. My soulmate has already rubbed off on me.  _

**‘How should we address each other since the bond blocks our names?** ’ He asked. The wait between this question and her answer was the longest gap in conversation on her end since they’d first began. 

**‘I think it should come naturally, don’t you think?’ **

‘ **Okay** ,’ he agreed. ‘ **I’ll let you get to sleep now, good night.’**

He waited until she replied ‘good night’ back then stood. With the soulmate drama taken care of, it was time to suit up and be ready to leave. 

As his soulmate slept, Robin had a job to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok Let me know what y'all think. Updates won't be regular (full-time job and all) but I was super inspired so I hope to keep writing. I'll try to post every Wednesday.


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